SPECIAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS FOR PLANTATION SERVICE

1. Preamble

A. All Plantation-Afforestation service relatedcontracts placed through GeM shall be governed by the following set of Terms and Conditions:
I. General terms and conditions for Goods and Services.
II. Service STC contained in this document
III. BID / Reverse Auction specific ATC

B. The above terms and conditions are in reverse order of precedence i.e. ATC shall supersede Service specific STC which shall supersede GTC, whenever there are any conflicting provisions. 

C. This document represents the Special Terms and Conditions (STC) and the Service Level Agreement (SLA) governing the contract between the Buyer and Service Provider. The purpose of this document is to outline the scope of work, stakeholders obligations and terms and conditions of all services covered as mutually understood by the stakeholders.

2. Objectives and Goal

The objective of this document is to ensure that all the special terms and conditions are in place to ensure consistent delivery of services to the buyer by the service provider. The goal of this document is to:
⦁ Provide clear reference to service ownership, accountability, roles and responsibilities of both parties
⦁ Present a clear, concise and measurable description of services offered to the buyer
⦁ Establish terms and conditions for all the involved stakeholders, it also includes the actions to be taken in case of failure to comply with conditions specified.
⦁ To ensure that both the parties understand the consequences in case of termination of services due to any of the stated reasons
This document will act as a reference document that both the parties have understood the above-mentioned terms and conditions and have agreed to comply by the same.

 3. Stakeholders

The main stakeholders associated with this agreement are:
1. Buyer: The Buyer is responsible to provide clear instructions, approvals and timely payments for the services availed as per the contractual terms

2. Service Provider: The service provider is responsible to provide all the required services in timely mannerand to the satisfaction of buyer or its authorized representative. The service provider may also include seller, supplier/bidder/contractor, any authorized agents, permitted assignees, successors, and nominees as per the context and as described in the document.
The responsibilities and obligations of the stakeholders have been outlined in this document. The document also encompasses payment terms and penalties in case of non-adherence to the defined terms and conditions. 

4. Service Scope

The service providers are expected for undertaking afforestation and maintenance of plantations/forestry. The scope of services will broadly include the following and buyer may detail specific requirements 

⦁ Site preparation for afforestation activities – This may include clearing dried debris, conveying mine silts, preparing the holes along with application of manure . The list of activities under this will depend on the type of geography and may include conveying of top soil/mine silt especially in mining areas.

  ⦁ Acquisition of tree saplings – The acquisition of tree saplings is the service providers’ obligations unless specified otherwise by buyer. The type of tree saplings and its dimensions maybe specified by buyers 

⦁ Providing and fixing fencing – The type of fencing and its specifications will depend upon buyer specifications. This activity may involve fixing fencing post, fixing barbed wires etc.

⦁ Maintenance of plantation – The service providers’ obligation includes protection of the site from forest fire, encroachment, human and animal disturbances, weeding, irrigation etc as per buyer specifications. 

5. Terms and Conditions
5.1 Buyer’s Obligations

i. Buyer or his/her nominated representative shall act as the nodal point for implementation of the contract and for issuing necessary instructions, approvals, payments etc. to the service provider
ii. Buyer shall ensure that timely approval is provided to the service provider as and when required, which may include approval of project plans, implementation methodology, design documents, or any other document necessary in fulfilment of this contract.

5.2 Service Provider’s Obligations

i. Approval of all sources of material such as sand, manure, bricks, frame, readymade concrete posts, chain link fencing and  barbed wire may need to be sought from buyers’ competent authority on buyers’ instructions. 

ii. The service provider, on buyers’ request may provide sign boards at appropriate locations of the site of the works of size, design and content as provided by buyer.

 iii. Casualty replacement will be service provider’s obligation, any buyer specific terms and conditions for the same will be adhered to. 

iv. The service provider shall not sublet the work to any other agent or agents under any circumstances without the approval of the buyer.

v. The service provider is advised to visit and examine the Site of Works and its surroundings and obtain for itself on its own responsibility all information that may be necessary for preparing the bid. The costs of visiting the site shall be at the service provider’s own expense.  The service provider and any of its personnel or agents will be granted permission by the buyer to enter upon its premises and lands for the purpose of such visit, but only upon the express condition that the service provider, its personnel, and agents will release and indemnify the buyer and its personnel and agents from and against all liability in respect thereof, and will be responsible for death or personal injury, loss of or damage to property, and any other loss, damage, costs, and expenses incurred as a result of the inspection.

5.3 Standard Terms and Conditions

i. Plant saplings shall be well formed and shaped true to type, and free from disease, insects and defects such as knots, windburn, injuries, abrasion or disfigurement.

ii. All plants shall conform to the requirements specified in the plant list, except that plants larger than specified may be used if approved but use of such plants shall not increase the contract price.

iii. Replacement of causalities if any, has to be carried out by the service provider at his  own  cost  within time period as approved and agreed by the buyer and  after the planting completion date. 

iv. Organic manure shall be used wherever possible to maximize nutrient recovery.

v. Preparation of the saplings to be planted through following steps such as screening of soil & manure and its mixing, bags filling, setting of bags in bed, bed formation, shifting of saplings, changing of bags shall also be part of the scope of the work.

 vi. All tools and tackles required for maintenance of plantation as well as development as per the instruction of buyer shall be in the scope of service provider only. Equipment for surveying and measurement on the work will also be service providers’ obligation. 

vii. Transportation of any material by the service provider shall be by suitable vehicle which when loaded does not cause spillage and all loads shall be suitably secured. Such vehicles and transportation shall comply with this requirement or local traffic regulation and law. 

viii. If any forest fire is noticed in the plantation or surrounding area, it should be extinguished immediately with the help of watchers/other local labour. The service shall intimate the fire incident to competent buyer authority on priority. 

ix. The plantation area should be free of weeds throughout Contract period. Weeds shall be removed with their roots and dumped as per buyers’ instructions. 

x. Collection, handling, segregation, transportation and disposal of waste may cause environmental degradation and nuisance. To prevent it, waste must be handled and disposed properly. As such, collection, handling, segregation, transportation and disposal of all waste shall be strictly managed by the Service Provider and all related costs shall be borne by service provider. 

xi. The service provider shall be solely responsible for their affairs and will be under mandatory / obligation to comply with the statutory obligations such as EPF, GST, ESIC etc. as and where applicable. These personnel shall have no claim whatsoever, to be treated as employees of the buyer. In the event any such claims made by the personnel of service provider on the buyer, the service provider shall be wholly responsible and service provider shall indemnify the buyer against any such claims, either monetary or otherwise.

xii. The Service provider shall be fully responsible for any accident or mishap involving manpower engaged by him and any claim made on this part will be paid by the Service provider. The Service provider shall indemnify the Institute from any claims arising out of accidents or mishaps, disabilities of any nature or death, or arising out of provisions under law or of any other nature in respect of all manpower engaged by Service provider.

xiii. The Service provider is overall responsible for the good conduct and character of the manpower deployed. Service provider is expected to be duly diligent to carry out background check of every manpower before deploying it with the buyer and ensure that no criminal case is ongoing against any of the manpower deployed as and when they are deployed by the Service provider.

xiv. As and when the buyer finds behaviour and conduct of the Service Provider representative questionable/unbecoming and any act of indiscipline the same will be liable for removal from the operation due to misconduct such as Person found under influence of alcohol, serious misconduct with Public and Buyer staff. In the event of removal of resource for such conduct and it will be the responsibility of the Service Provider to provide substitute. 

xv. The Service provider will have to abide by the Minimum Wages Act-1948 and all other relevant and applicable statutory labour and other laws, rules and regulations as applicable in the state where service is being provided. 

xvi. The service provider shall comply with all the statutes pertaining to Labour Laws and Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Act, 1970 which are in force at present or which may come into force during currency of the contract. The service provider shall agree to maintain employment records in respect of its personnel as required under various Labour Statutes, such as attendance register, wage register, wage slips, bonus register and leave register etc.

6. Payment Schedule

i. The Payment Procedure shall be in as specified in the General Terms and Conditions of GeM. 

ii. Payment schedule to be as per payment terms specified in bid document.

7. Penalties and Termination

8. Formulae Used

Total Price = A

Where,

A = Total contract value(lumpsum)